ISIS has claimed a suicide bombing that killed at least 18 people and injured more than 26 at a wedding party near Karbala, south of Baghdad, late on Sunday, local officials said.
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They said the attacks were carried out by the Sunni terror group Islamic State (Isis) which has carried out a series of attacks on the Shia majority in Iraq.
“They were carrying Kalashnikovs, hand grenades”.
Associated Press reported that security forces were able to shoot dead four of the five suicide bombers before they were able to detonate their devices, preventing a far higher death toll.
DAESH, a designated terrorist organisation, claimed responsibility for the attack, said the militants’ Amaq news agency on Monday.
Ain al-Tamer is located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the holy Shiite city of Karbala and lies on the edge of the province of Anbar, which was long a haven for jihadists. “Several among the dead and wounded were at the party”, said Mahfouz al-Tamimi, who is now a Karbala provincial council member.
The official account of Saraya al-Salam, a Shiite militia, tweeted that its fighters, assisted by the Iraqi army, managed to counter the attack and re-assert control over the area.
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A former mayor of Ain al-Tamer told AFP the attackers started spraying bullets at a nearby wedding party.
